Seat belts for school buses passes House

The House overwhelmingly voted in favor of providing tax incentives to school systems that use buses with 3-point seat belts, paid for by increasing the fines to reinstate suspended licenses. Seat belts on school buses got a fresh impetus following the death of a student from Rocky Hill in bus crash earlier this year. The Transportation […]

The statue of limitations for civil actions in child sex abuse cases will not be extended this year, as state lawmakers conceded today they cannot pass the bill this legislative session. “You’re running a marathon, not a sprint,” said Sen.Mary Ann Handley, D-Manchester, recognizing that time was not on their side with the legislature having […]

The Connecticut Mirror is beginning its new commentary section, CTCommons, just as the 2010 session of the General Assembly is drawing to a close-and we invite you to mark both occasions with your thoughts on the legislature’s work. What went right? What went wrong? How will the events of the last three months at the […]

State revenues were projected to increase without the help of a tax hike for the first time in 2 ½ years in a new report released late Thursday by Executive and Legislative branch analysts. But don’t break out the champagne just yet. The nearly $406 million in annual extra revenues Connecticut can expect by 2011-12 […]

Following a U.S. Supreme Court decision opening the door for corporations and organizations to spend unlimited amounts of money on political speech, state lawmakers are proposing a measure to require that such spending be disclosed. “We banned this type of spending in Connecticut for a reason, but now that’s unconstitutional,” said Rep. James F. Spallone, […]

A thaw in one of the General Assembly’s chilliest relationships has produced a sweeping, 11th-hour proposal to overhaul Connecticut’s electric regulatory structure and subsidize solar energy. Setting aside three years of conflict, Sen. John W. Fonfara, D-Hartford, and Rep. Vickie O. Nardello, D-Prospect, are collaborating on what could be the biggest energy bill since deregulation […]

The chances of survival for a controversial bill to force collection of sales taxes on Internet transactions have become very slim as the regular legislative session nears its May 5 deadline, key lawmakers said Thursday. The problem, according to leaders of the Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee, is that many legislators fear businesses could be […]

The House passed a bill today that forbids businesses from charging customers when they return defective merchandise. Proponents say the law is needed because businesses are allowed to charge an unlimited amount when customers return a product. Several House members shared their personal stories of returning a product and being charged the fee before the […]

State employee unions have rejected Gov. M. Jodi Rell’s call to offer the second worker retirement incentive program in two years, according to a statement released late Wednesday night by the administration. But the State Employees Bargaining Agent Coalition responded that it didn’t reject anything. Rather, it said, it insisted that Rell assess how a […]

Gov. M. Jodi Rell asked state legislators Wednesday to put nearly $1 billion in operating costs on the state’s credit card for the second year in a row as part of a complex scheme to avoid securitizing future revenues. The proposal, which is actually centered on tearing a new $1 billion hole in the current budget […]

If you want to predict children’s chances for success in school, the latest test scores tell only part of the story. You might want to check their ZIP codes, too. That was a key message at a forum Wednesday in Hartford, where a series of experts said the quality of children’s health and education is […]

State employee unions have rejected Gov. M. Jodi Rell’s call to offer the second worker retirement incentive program in two years, according to a written statement released late tonight by the administration. But the State Employees Bargaining Agent Coalition responded that it didn’t reject anything, but rather insisted that Rell first assess how a second […]

Just two weeks after raiding the next state budget to balance the current one, Gov. M. Jodi Rell unveiled a plan this afternoon to do the reverse – and thereby replace $1.3 billion in planned securitization with nearly $1 billion in more traditional borrowing. The odd back-and-forth maneuver still would place new burdens on residents […]

The state House voted Wednesday to lay the groundwork for what could be a complete overhaul of the state’s tax system by ordering a comprehensive study of the existing revenue structure–the first since establishment of the state income tax nearly 20 years ago. “There is precedent do exactly this the last time we faced a […]